Ikea Case Study

Harvard Business School

9-390-132

rP
os
t

Rev. July 22, 1996

Ingvar Kamprad and IKEA

op
yo

With a 1988 turnover of 14 1/2 billion Swedish Kronor (US $1 ? SKr 6 in 1988) and 75 outlets
in 19 countries, IKEA had become the worlds largest home furnishings retailer. As the company
approached the 1990s, however, its managers go about a number of major challenges. Changes in
demographics were causing some to interrogatory IKEAs historical product line policy. Others
wondered if the company had not bitten dark too much by attempting major new market place entries
simultaneously in two European countries (U.K. and Italy), the United States, and several(prenominal) Eastern
Bloc countries. Finally, there was widespread concern about the prox of the company without its
imbeder, strategic architect, and cultural guru, Ingvar Kamprad.

IKEA Background and History

tC

In 1989, piece of furniture retailing oecumenic was still largely a staccato national industry in
which small manufacturers and distributors catered to the demands of their local markets.
Consumer preferences varied by region, and there were hardly a(prenominal) retailers whose operations extended
beyond a unmarried country. IKEA, however, had repeatedly bucked market trends and industry norms.




Over three and a half decades it had built a highly profitable worldwide network of furniture stores.
(See Exhibit 1.)

Company Origins

No

IKEA is an acronym for the initials of the founder, Ingvar Kamprad, his farm Elmtaryd, and
his county, Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden. In 1943, at the age of 17, Kamprad began his
entrepreneurial career by selling fish, Christmas magazines, and seeds. Within a few years he had
established a mail-order business featuring products as diverse as ballpoint pens and furniture. It
was in furniture, however, that he dictum the greatest opportunity.

Do

Even as the pent-up wartime demand found expression in the post-war boom, the traditional
Swedish practice of handing down custom-made...If you compulsion to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my paper